Most Linux operating systems recognise being run inside a virtual machine and install Open VM Tools package if it's available.
There are advantaged and disadvantages to using Open VM tools instead of the VMware Tools that are supplied with your ESX/ESXi or VMware Workstation productions.
If you want my thoughts on this, please have a look at the VMware Tools vs Open VM Tools on Unix Tutorial blog.
See Also
- Virtual Machine
- HW Virtualization
- What Hardware Virtualization really means
- VMware Workstation
- VirtualBox
Link is broken " VMware Tools vs Open VM Tools "
Cheers Tom, this is now corrected!